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But, mes amis,

does it escape you that those words were not a reasonable answer at all to what Miss King hadjust been saying? “I’ve never forgotten anything—not an action, not a name, not a face.” It doesnot make sense! If she had said, “I never forget impertinence”—something of that kind—but no—a face is what she said…

‘Ah!’ cried Poirot, beating his hands together. ‘But it leaps to the eye! Those words, ostensiblyspoken to Miss King, were not meant for Miss King at all! They were addressed to someone elsestanding behind Miss King.’

He paused, noting their expressions.

‘Yes, it leaps to the eye! That was, I tell you, a psychological¹ moment in Mrs Boynton’s life!

She had been exposed to herself by an intelligent young woman! She was full of baffled² fury—andat that moment she recognized someone—a face from the past—a victim delivered into her hands!

‘We are back, you see, at the outsider! And now the meaning of Mrs Boynton’s unexpectedamiability on the afternoon of her death is clear. She wanted to get rid of her family because—touse a vulgarity—she had other fish to fry! She wanted the field left clear for an interview with anew victim…

‘Now, from that new standpoint³, let us consider the events of the afternoon! The Boyntonfamily go off. Mrs Boynton sits up by her cave. Now let us consider very carefully the evidence ofLady Westholme and Miss Pierce⁴. The latter is an unreliable witness, she is unobservant and verysuggestible. Lady Westholme, on the other hand, is perfectly⁵ clear as to her facts and meticulouslyobservant. Both ladies agree on one fact! An Arab, one of the servants, approaches Mrs Boynton,angers her in some way and retires hastily⁶. Lady Westholme stated definitely⁷ that the servant hadfirst been into the tent occupied by Ginevra Boynton, but you may remember that Dr Gerard’s tentwas next door to Ginevra’s. It is possible that it was Dr Gerard’s tent the Arab entered…’

Colonel⁸ Carbury said: ‘D’you mean to tell me that one of those Bedouin fellows of minemurdered an old lady by sticking her with a hypodermic? Fantastic!’

‘Wait, Colonel Carbury, I have not yet finished. Let us agree that the Arab might have comefrom Dr Gerard’s tent and not Ginevra Boynton’s. What is the next thing? Both ladies agree thatthey could not see his face clearly enough to identify him and that they did not hear what was said.

That is understandable. The distance between the marquee and the ledge⁹ was about two hundredyards. Lady Westholme gave a clear description of the man otherwise, describing in detail hisragged breeches and the untidiness with which his puttees were rolled.’

Poirot leaned forward.

‘And that, my friends, was very odd¹⁰ indeed! Because if she could not see his face or hear whatwas said, she could not possibly have noticed the state of his breeches and puttees! Not at twohundred yards!

‘It was an error, that, you see! It suggested a curious idea to me. Why insist so on the raggedbreeches and untidy puttees? Could it be because the breeches were not torn and the puttees werenon-existent? Lady Westholme and Miss Pierce both saw the man—but from where they weresitting they could not see each other. That is shown by the fact that Lady Westholme came to seeif Miss Pierce was awake and found her sitting in the entrance of her tent.’